Monuments to the Dead

Not truly knowing what becomes of the human spirit after death, people have been building elaborate memorials for thousands of years to honor and remember family members who have come and gone. The styles of memorials vary, depending on religious beliefs, cultural conformity, costs and the individual wishes of the departed. Sometimes the choice was simply left to the custodians of one’s estate or a government to build it in recognition for personal service to their country and community. The intent of this project is to survey and photograph a wide geographic area and in the future to include unexplored areas of the United States as well as the United Kingdom, Eastern and Western Europe to document their cemeteries, churches and memorials to the dead.

My photographs attempt to capture the strange and unique qualities these statues leave as a reminder of the sorrow, loss and tragedy of people who have come and gone. Most of the cemeteries in the United States which I have explored, had affluent industrial enterprises or businesses from the mid 1800's to the mid 1900's. This period was a time of tremendous accumulation of private wealth and families spent significant sums to build memorials and monuments to their loved ones. These images reflect some of the sorrow, loss and impermanence intended for 'eternal' remembrance.